Chickadee

Ms. Lindsey and the girls surprised us tonight with a visit and this Caaa- uute chicken outfit for Ains! How thankful am I to have such a talented friend??!!

The Birds and Bees....

On Saturday, Noah just had to take his mama to the Memphis zoo to see "his polar bear" . Sadly, it must have been cooler inside the bear's cave, b/c we never saw Mr. Polar Bear. We did however, find the Birds and Bees exhibit. Turns out, that's all we needed to entertain these two! Inside what looks like a green house, there were tons of birds who were more than willing to perch on our feeding sticks. So fun for this little man!

Thanks to the Youngs and Simmons for taking in the wild Dewbabies this weekend. It was SO great to see ya'll!!!

Ainsley Kate

"and she said to him, "As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give her to the LORD. For her whole life she will be given over to the LORD." " 1 Samuel 1:26-28

When I was around 15, I heard someone speak about praying for our future...Praying for our future husband and our children. At that time, when I was so young, the Lord put it on my heart to pray for these people that I had not yet met. For years I have done this. I prayed for my husband (who happened to be right beside me) and for the children that my heart longed for even then. How wonderful that God would give me exactly what I asked! When I was pregnant with our second baby and we were to find out what we were having, of course I never let "I'm hoping for a girl" come out of my mouth, but in my heart I so wanted a baby girl...when the tech told us it was a girl, my first thought was, "Only God truly knows my heart's desire (selfish as it is) and he granted me that. I will never deserve that." I was so overwhelmed with joy that day, yes, because I was having the perfect addition to our family, but more because I was finally understanding God's grace and His willingness to bless us and to just love on us, even when we are far from deserving....

Today, my sweet little girl is 1! (bittersweet) I am so grateful to be able to call her mine! I wondered how I could have any more room in my heart after Noah, but one year ago today, she changed all of that.

Ainsley is a precious, smart, and silly one year old. She is always smiling from ear to ear and is always eager to see you smile back. She loves her big brother, and always keeps him on his feet (size is not an issue to her :) ) Oh- and she plays the perfect princess, just as her daddy treats her. What a joy Ainsley is! I'm so thankful to be her mommy :)

Happy Birthday, baby.

Favorites from the weekend

Ok, so I havn't been the best blogger lately.  We have been so busy at our house this summer! My kids are not even playing ball yet, and we are constantly on the go.  So, bear with me as I try to catch you up with some of my favorite pics from the weekend  and a post from the zoo :)

The "Greats" watching Pop's fireworks

Happy 4th!

Happy Birthday, KB! (Noah's gwirl fiend)

KB's party

My sweet little priss

We're going on a trip!

Thursday, Ben drove one of the church buses full of these little people to the Memphis Zoo.  Noah LOVES these outings with the church!  He was so excited that his daddy was "taking him on a trip".  (For those of you Noggin watchers, you know this IS take a trip month!)  Thank goodness Ben took my camera so that I could share in the fun a little!....after all, I was a little jealous.

6 years

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. After looking through our wedding pictures tonight, I just had to post this. This picture has always been my favorite. No matter how much time passes, I can look at it and know exactly what we were feeling. The photographer called to us just as we were jumping in the car to go to the reception and we were so crazy excited. Not just "oh, we are really married"...but "here we go!"...kinda like jumping out of a tree when you are little...you are scared but you just jump anyway. We had NO idea what we were in for! I'm just so thankful that we had enough sense to trust God, to know where to look for His lead. It's so amazing to look back over these years and see that in all of the good times and the struggles we have had, God's perfect timing and grace have been there. This picture reminds me that He is faithful. How great to know that He has a plan for our marriages??! Boy am I thankful that we don't have to figure that out on our own!










P.S. I just have to brag on my honey- Friday, he secretly planned a trip for us to Natchez (I've never been). We stayed at the Monmouth Plantation. BEAUTIFUL! It was the perfect quick overnight getaway. Mint Julep's, candle-lit dinner, the best french toast ever! It was wonderful!

Orange Beach

Sweet Boy!

I promise---this child cried until I put her shades on!!!....She is going to be an optometrist for sure :)

LuLu's